Review: Yours and Mine by AE Bennett

I first heard about Yours and Mine when AE Bennett approached me to commission an anniversary style portrait of the two main characters, Gerald and Octavia Verte. Reading through the scraps of description and context for the portrait, I became immediately intrigued. It gave me good old-fashioned bodice ripper vibes, but with a difference that had me making the grabby-hand gesture with these wee mitts of mine.

Far from your typical Byronic hero, Lord Gerald Verte is anxious, socially inept and the butt of every family joke. When he’s forced to attend a coming out ball, his only desire is to get through the evening without making a fool of himself or causing injury to his eldest brother’s reputation. Frankly, he’s quite happy to cling to the canapes for the night, that is until he’s approached by the fierce and beautiful Lady Octavia Dorchester. With the simple kindness of avoiding her tender feet while dancing, Gerald wins her fiery heart forever. But in the Realm, love alone is no guarantee of a happily ever after. Gerald and Octavia will need to dodge scandal and stand their ground if they’re ever to hear wedding bells.

Yours and Mine is a spin off of Bennet’s main series (the ‘Serrulata Saga’, starting with The Gathering of the Four). While you may notice that it has all the set dressing of a regency romance, it’s actually set in a dystopian future, which is that wonderful dash of uniqueness that piqued my interest to begin with. Bennett’s vision of the world in 4385 (the year the Hale-Bopp comet will return), is a society that has taken colossal steps backward in terms of equality. Women are once again property to be traded by men in power, and discrimination and subjugation are rife.  But behind the scenes, a revolution is brewing.

This romance novella can 100% be read as a standalone, but also makes for an unobtrusive little peep into the wider world, with Gerald sitting awkwardly on the edges of many discussions about the happenings and politics of the Realm.

But if spec fic is not really your jam, the romance of Yours and Mine is still absolutely top notch, with plenty to love. I very much enjoyed the awkwardness of Gerald’s character. He felt to me like what Austen’s Mr Darcy would have been if he hadn’t had the social sway of an heir to a great fortune, and his growth and strength as the story progresses is ~chef’s kiss~. Octavia, meanwhile, shifts from a sheltered but fiery “girl”, into a passionate and driven force of nature. It’s a romance where you can see how perfectly they’ll support each other and keep each other strong long after the story ends … as well as how they’ll keep those sparks flying *ahem*.

If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while now, you know I don’t read a huge amount of spicy books, so I should mention that Yours and Mine does have a fair few scenes that bring the heat. Content wise, it felt like just enough for a book of this length, with a mix of scenes showing the progression of the characters’ intimacy, as well as just being a heckin’ good read if you like that sort of thing XD

Yours and Mine is definitely a solid recommendation for anyone looking for a short “historical” romance with some really fun, unique touches. And I would particularly recommend it to those who always had a crush of the quiet dork in the corner.

Author Spotlight:

And the ever so wonderful thing about Bennett’s expanding universe is that there are more romances coming! The second steamy story in the series, Second Glance, is a queer (m/m) love story, featuring disability rep! It will be coming out on the May 2nd, and you can pre-order you copy here now! 😊